It was recommended to me to remove my seatpost on my steel frame after wet rides to let it air out. I did so after this morning’s ride (a dry ride btw) and noticed some dampness in the seat tube after removing the post. Simply condensation? Last wet ride was probably two weeks ago and it was more of a damp ride than wet. Should the inside of the frame always be bone dry? Anyone else with steel frames remove seat post to air out inside of frame?
I did treat the inside with some anti-rust spray (weigels?) last fall. Is that good enough for the lifetime of the frame or should that be an annual treatment.
Love my lemond and wanna keep it around for as long as i can.
thanks
If I clean the bike thoroughly (i.e. soap and water rather than pledge or something), I will spray Frame Saver (which is what you have) into the bike frame. I usually treat it about four times per year, which sounds a bit overkill, but I have had the BB/seat tube cluster on a steel bike fail during a ride.
You probably had some condensation from a variety of factors. I am not going to bore you with all of the factors. I will shock the hell out of everyone (because I wrote the most OCD article on bike cleaning) and say that I only remove the post to apply Frame Saver. But I do it about four times per year. But removing the seat pin would probably be an excellent idea after a wet ride.
bunnyman, feel free to bore me with the major factors contributing to condensation:)
Do you plug the seatpost up and “twirl” the frame around to get that stuff everywhere or simply spray it down into the tube?
When i treated it last year, it was sorta a major production (for a non-mechanical person like myself) in that i removed the bottom bracket, stem and headset and seat tube. If you feel you can get the same benefit from just removing the seat tube, that ain’t so bad.
Storing the bike in a cool place then it warms up, riding in the heat and storing in a cool place, storing in a warm place, riding in cooler outdoor air, then storing it, high humidity indoors, high humidity outdoors, etc., etc. It all has to do with humidity.
I think you are more OCD than I when it comes to spraying in the Frame Saver. I remove the seat pin and fork, can get it into all of the tubes pretty easy that way. I also put the spray tube in the weepholes in the stays (though it is advised not to do on the instructions- phooey on stinkin’ instructions!). Though I did swirl it all around before I built the bike, and applied two separate applications before building. BUt if it makes you feel better, remove the BB, as well.
The bad thing about steel is that it is a metal that the corrosion process starts immediately; doesn’t stop me from riding steel.